Though the Futures are down a bit this morning, we're back to our late January highs, before the Coronavirus was a known threat and before Donald Trump began to publically compile an enemies list and promise retribution in 2020. None of that seems to matter as Central Banksters around the World promise financial retribution in the form of MORE FREE MONEY – because money fixes everything, doesn't it?
The virus is proving hard to "fix" as a cruise ship in Japan now has 61 cases of the virus, more than any other country outside of China and there are 3,700 very scared people on that ship with 41 new cases since yesterday and they caught it from a man who got off the ship on Jan 25th, causing the ship to be quarantined on Feb 3rd (Monday), when one case was known to be on the ship. 8 people on another ship are now infected in Hong Kong, that ship has been quarantined since Wednesday with 3,600 people on board. 5,000 additional passengers on 3 cruises may have crossed with the other infected passengers – not to mention all the ports they docked at.
As I noted yesterday, we are still running headlong into a major poppulation crisis (as are most countries) as the number of people between 35 and 50 (30M in prime earning years) is being dwarfed by the number of people who are 55 and older (40M) so of course our forward-paying Social Security System can't possibly not fail 10 years down the road – there simply won't be enough working people to support the retired people.
That's happening NOW, climate change is also happening NOW and our Infrastructure is a disaster that needs to be fixed NOW! None of these things are currently concerning the markets as we're way too focused on distractions, like who's going to be elected to go down on this sinking ship in November. I don't like to be doom and gloomy but it is my job to point out risks and these are all big ones that the market is simply not pricing in.
Climate change is the premise for buying Tesla (TSLA) and alt-energy companies and battery companies, even nuclear companies but, for other investors, it's still a hoax while "clean" coal is not. You can say "that's what makes a market" but it's a lot like betting whether you'll die of smoke inhalation or be burned to death while a fire is raging around you – it might not matter – there will be no winners.
If so, I don't want to kill the buzz so let's just not worry about it and enjoy our weekend. We shorted the S&P Futures (/ES) yesterday at 3,350 and that's a good hedge into the weekend and those are 3,333 this morning but the Nasdaq (/NQ) is still over 9,400 and we'll short them below that line - just in case people forget to ignore things between now and Monday.
Otherwise, have a great weekend,
- Phil
Do you know someone who would benefit from this information? We can send your friend a strictly confidential, one-time email telling them about this information. Your privacy and your friend's privacy is your business... no spam! Click here and tell a friend!